What are we eating now?

Are you trying to eat local? I spend time every week trying to find out what else I could serve that would be grown or raised in New England. You would think that after all these years it would be hard to find new favorites ,but, they keep coming. This past month it was a big surprise that I fell in love with BEANS................ I know that seems a bit weird , who knew!!!
While exploring our neighboring states, this past fall, I came across local dried beans. My bad self thought "big deal". The farmer in me said "Do you know how much time someone worked to get you this little bag of dried beans?" I picked up the 2 lb bag of beans in support of my "farmer people" patted myself on the back for supporting local and stuck the beans in the closet. That being said let's get right to my new love.

First I poured 2 cups of my beans into a pot and covered with water to soak over night. Did you know that slow overnight soaking releases gases that would otherwise get stuck in your tummy.I had no idea that soaking did that.

Tucked in my freezer was a beef shank that needed to be the center of attention on the Sunday table. With a little olive oil in my pot, I browned the meat on all sides.

Then, I minced of few garlic cloves and snipped a fresh leaf off of my bay plant.

I chopped an onion,3 celery stalks,and 4 carrots. This is what I had in the fridge so, it wasn't a magic number more what I had on hand.

I removed the shank and set it aside,then browned the veggies and the herbs in the remaining oil and beef juice. Then I mixed in the drained beans ......topped it with the meat

Made sure all the veggies and beans were covered with water brought it to a boil on top of the stove and put it in the oven,cover on, for 3 to 4 hours at 300 degrees. I'm sure you could do this in a crock pot or slow cooker, however, years ago I spent time and money buying the perfect stewing pot and after months of searching settled on a copco from Denmark. Obviously, I had not reached my local stage yet. The "brown pot" as it is referred to, did a great job.

When supper time came I served this with crusty bread and I have to say, it was fantastic. But, the beans ............they were so good that I'm trying to figure out just how I could grow my own. Of course, if it doesn't work out I now know where I can get them, but then we all know that the fun is in the trying ........................said the hobbit